A Dark Future
by AmericanPsyco
Summary: When a spell goes wrong Arthur finds himself ten years into to future where all of the countries are their 2P's. 'So, if this is my future and, no offense, but, it's a pretty bad future... think I could change it? If I can get back to my time'
1. Prolog

'Bloody, stupid, immature, childish, fat, pain in the ass, nosey little American.' Arthur slammed his front door shut and threw his worn-out briefcase at his bed. Another world meeting had not gone his way, and he was blaming it all on Alfred. Brushing a hand through his blond hair, he went into the kitchen for a cuppa.

The whole meeting was just pointless arguing, as it always was. 'Why is the stupid American always in charge of the meetings anyways?', he said aloud, even though he was alone. The way he saw it, Alfred was still just a kid and nowhere near responsible. The only country who actually contributed to the meeting was Ivan, and he hadn't said a word.

The whistle of the kettle broke his little rant. The steam of the hot water helped clear his head a little bit. His tea swirled around, colouring the water. 'If I could just show that stupid American who he is in ten years. A washed up, overweight, diabetic with no friends because everybody is sick of him. Maybe that would straighten him out. If his country even lasts that long.' Arthur slowly sipped his tea poking at a rock hard biscuit.

He almost dropped the mug. 'Why can't I show him ten years into the future?' Now excited, he abandoned the spilled tea and ran to his basement. There were spell books neatly lining the shelves, he began to flip through them, tossing the useless ones into a pile on the floor.

He remembered seeing a certain spell that would surely help him, but he had never actually used it before. Finally the right spell caught his eye. One that allows you to glance into the future. Alfred could see the embarrassing mess he was sure to be in a couple years. Maybe he would show that perverted frog his future prison cell too.

Arthur decided to take a look by himself first, before showing Alfred, In case it was really bad. He wanted to scare the kid, but not put him into a full on panic. Most countries had never seen Alfred during a panic attack, but Arthur had.

The spell was relatively easy, a small string of Latin repeated, but after the third time the room began to fill with a pink smoke. Arthur was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen. He stopped chanting but the smoke only grew thicker, now he could barely see the basement door. The smoke was cold and grainy, it filled his lungs and clouded his mind. Coughing and choking he stumbled towards the blurry door, reaching for the knob but coming up empty. Now laying on the stairs, too weak to stand back up, he lost consciousness.


	2. Future

Arthur woke after what felt like hours. His head hurt and his lungs burned. Glancing around the basement only hurt his head more, it was a mess, and everything was coated in a thick layer of dust, except the spell book he had just been using. Shaky, he got to his feet and made his way up the creaky stairs.

The rest of his house confused him even more. It was a mess. There was clothing laying on the floor and across furniture, his kitchen was littered with fancy cooking equipment he had never seen before. Rubbing tiredly at his eyes Arthur reached for the fridge, feeling his stomach grumble.

There was barely any recognizable food in the fridge. Instead there were bags of chunky red, he was afraid to even check what was inside, and a few jars with different variations of warning signs and skulls. Reaching around the toxic mess, he grabbed a left over scone.

Arthur set the scone on a plate and began to fill his kettle with water, eyeing a half full 'swear jar' on the counter. He turned the stove on and glanced at the clock. 'Shit,' he shouted, Turing the stove back off. Never had he been late to a world meeting before, but today's meeting started a half hour ago.

Everything looked different as he ran to the meeting room. Darker and more dreary. The large wood door was cracked and splintering, he made a mental note to get someone to fix that soon.

The room got quiet as he walked in. Everyone turned to look at him, Alfred looked furious. 'Arthur! You are late! Sit down and shut up, Ivan was talking.' Arthur stared at Alfred in shock. Not only was Ivan talking during a meeting, Alfred was letting him? Those two had such a rivalry. 'Did you not hear me? Sit! Now! Jeez.'

Arthur mumbled an apology and rushed to his seat. His stomach was still grumbling. 'Hey, uh, Alfred, I didn't eat anything this morning, do you have any food with you? I'd even eat a burger I guess.' He was answered by Alfred throwing a carrot at him. 'Uh, thanks.'

Arthur didn't really pay attention to the meeting, he was trying to figure out what was so different. Nobody had looked the same way they did yesterday. He laid his head on the table for a second trying to relax.

The sound of metal on metal next to him made him lift his head. Feliciano was beside him, dragging two knives together. He grinned mischievously at Arthur, put his finger to his lips to signify quiet and pointed at Ivan. Ludwig slapped him.

Arthur couldn't help notice the large scar across Ludwig's face.

Feliciano rolled his eyes and flung one of his knife towards Yao, sticking into the table in front of him and making him jump. Arthur glanced back over at Ludwig, expecting him to hit Feli again. But the blow didn't come, instead they both laughed quietly at Yao's angry glare.

The meeting ended earlier than normal, no one even tried to argue the whole time. When the meeting came to a close each country stood and exited without a word. The only two left in the room were Arthur and Alfred.

Cautiously, Arthur walked over to his friend who was shuffling through a stack of papers. 'So, um, things seem a little different, huh? Everything okay?'

Alfred's eyes were cold and serious. A look Arthur had never seen. 'The only thing different is you, Arthur. What is wrong with you? Your clothes, your attitude, and did you dye your hair? Lateness is something I might expect from Ludwig or Feliciano on occasion, but never from you. I am disappointed.'

It took Arthur a second to process what he heard. He was going to ask Alfred about hair dye, the auburn hair colour looked so out of place on his naturally blond friend. 'I, well... wait, Ludwig? The only way he would be late is if there was an apocalypse, and even then he would probably still be the first one here. Also, since when do you eat carrots?'

Alfred tossed his papers into a worn out bag and walked towards the door, waving for Arthur to follow. 'Ludwig hasn't been that responsible in years. He just stopped caring after that brother of his died. Don't you remember? And, I eat carrots a lot since I became a vegetarian? Almost eight years ago, remember?'

'You're a vegetarian?'

Now Alfred's angry expression looked more like pity or concern. 'Yes, Arthur.'

They walked down the long hallway in silence. As they went down the front steps, Arthur spoke up again. He would probably be ridiculed for asking, but this one was really worrying him. 'Hey, Alfred. Francis wasn't at the meeting. Where is he at?'

Alfred turned to Arthur and put his hand on his shoulder. 'I'm going to call Matthew and have him drive you home okay. You should just sit down until he gets here.'

'Wait, why? Where's Francis? And who's Matthew?'

Alfred had started to walk away now, holding his cell phone to his ear. 'Matthew is my brother. And Francis is probably passed out at a bar or sitting at home. He doesn't come to the world meetings anymore. Hasn't for six years.'


	3. Matthew

A few minutes after Alfred left, a tall man with a messy blond pony tail sat down beside Arthur. He looked intimidating, but his voice was gentle. 'Hey, Arthur, Alfred asked me to drive you home.' So this must be Matthew, Arthur didn't know Alfred had a brother, even in the present, or past now as it was.

Neither one made any move to get up. Arthur shifted uncomfortably, but Matthew just reclined back on the stairs. 'So who, or what, are you anyways?'

Arthur couldn't meet Matthews eyes, he was a pretty bad liar. 'What do you mean? I'm Arthur, we've met haven't we?'

Matthew laughed. 'Yea, I know Arthur pretty well and you are not him, or at least, not him now.'

'I doubt you will believe me if I told you.'

'Try me.' Matthew pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one.

'Well I am Arthur, but I think I, somehow, traveld to the future or something. It was a spell I was trying, I must have read it wrong.' There was a long silence, Arthur was waiting for Matthew to laugh, but he didn't. 'Matthew, what happened? Everyone is so... different.'

Matthew took a long puff of his cigarette. 'Life happened. Come on, let's get you home.'

Matthew stood and walked to his car, Arthur reluctantly followed.

They sat in awkward silence for a while until Arthur spoke up. 'So, if this is my future and, no offense, but, it's a pretty bad future... think I could change it? If I can get back to my time?'

To his surprise, Matthew was smiling. 'I was hoping you would come up with that actually.'

Arthur sat back, a little more relaxed around Matthew now. 'So how do I fix things? I wouldn't even know where to start.'

'Well, we are in this mess because everyone focused too much on their own problems, they weren't there for each other. So I would say, change that.'

Arthur pulled a small notebook and pen from his pocket. He opened the notebook and made his first note. 'Meet Alfred's Brother Matthew, buy him a beer.'


	4. Ludwig

**A/N: Hey guys, thank you so much for reading this, you really don't know how much that means to me :). I will try to finish up the chapters soon and get them posted. Hopefully the next few chapters will be a luggage longer. As always, I wrote really love to hear what thou think so please feel free to message me. I always love to hear from people. Again thank you so much and, enjoy.**

Morning found Arthur sitting in a pile of crumpled papers. It occurred to him that he barely knew anything about his fellow countries. His plan was to have a starting point, to have something to compare them to who they were now. That way he could easily point out what was different, then he just had to learn why things were different. Arthur figured he could talk to Matthew to find out about them now.

While he was cleaning up the papery mess there was a gentle knock at the door. Arthur glanced through the peep hole, hoping to see Matthew. It was Kiku. He stood facing away from the door wiping what Arthur really hoped wasn't blood off his sword.

When Arthur answered the door, Kiku sheathed the sword and turned around. 'Mr. Kirkland.' He said, politely nodding.

Arthur tried to return the gesture. 'Hello.. uh, Mr... Honda... I think. Can I help you?'

Kiku handed an envelope to Arthur. 'From Mr. Williams.' Kiku said, turning to leave.

'Uh, wait.' Arthur flipped the envelope around awkwardly in his hands. 'Sorry, um, Mr. Williams is.. who?'

Kiku sighed, rather annoyed, and didn't turn around. 'Matthew Williams, Alfred's brother. He said you left it in his car yesterday.' Still facing away from Arthur, Kiku ran his hand over the hilt of the sword. 'Oh, Mr. Kirkland, there is another meeting tomorrow. Don't be late.' He walked away, leaving Arthur confused and possibly angry. He knew he hadn't left anything in Matthew's car, he didn't even have anything with him. Closing the door and sitting at the kitchen table, Arthur opened the envelope.

It was a short hand written letter from Matthew and twenty dollars. The letter said,

Arthur, I'm not sure how long you plan to stay here, or how you intend to get back to your time, but I fear the longer you are here, the more you will arise suspicion. So I suggest you get what you need and get out of here soon. If I was you, I would start with Ludwig. He's not really much for opening up and talking but he seems to be the least complicated, just buy him a beer and see what you can do.

¬Matt

Ludwig's address was written at the bottom of the page. Arthur had expected to just ask Matthew about everyone, that way he wouldn't have to actually talk to them. He dropped the letter and hit his head on the table a couple of times in frustration.

Then he remembered Kiku with the bloody sword. Arthur thought about Kiku from his time, he didn't know the Japanese man to well, but he always admired him. Calm and peaceful. This future could not happen. Arthur stood, grabbed his jacket, and ripped the address off the letter.

Ludwig didn't live to far away, but Arthur didn't know where his car was, or if he even still had one, so he ended up walking. The house was dark and quiet, Arthur wasn't even sure if Ludwig was home. But he rang the door bell anyways, silently hoping no one would answer.

Ludwig opened the door looking tired and bleary eyed. He wasn't wearing the hat or jacket he had at the meeting, Arthur could now see that he had more scars than the one on his face. The three running down his arm were especially noticeable and made Arthur shutter. He remembered at the end of yesterdays meeting Feliciano had been holding three knives between his fingers. Ludwig's scars were about a finger length apart.

Ludwig dropped his cigarette on the concrete and crushed it with his boot. Does everyone here smoke? Arthur thought. Ludwig looked back at Arthur and raised his eyebrow. Arthur realised he had been staring at Ludwig's arm since he answered the door. 'Uh, hey, Ludwig. Um, so I have had a long day and I know we don't really.. uh, hang out... to much but I was on my way to a pub and I just thought you might want to join me? Maybe?'

He expected Ludwig to close The door. Instead the German sighed and grabbed his coat. 'Sure.' He mumbled.

Ludwig stood in his driveway looking around, a bit confused. 'Where is your car?'

Oh yea. Arthur rubbed the back of his neck nervously, hoping this wouldn't discourage Ludwig from going. 'I thought we could walk to the pub? It's a nice day out and I know how much you like fitnessy working out sorts of things.'

Ludwig felt his pockets for keys, opening the door to his truck. 'Not anymore I don't. We can take my truck.'

Arthur scrambled to the other side of the truck and climbed in. This would be a good opportunity to get Ludwig talking, but Arthur realised how difficult it was to get someone to talk about a topic that they wanted to avoid. Then he reminded himself that by getting Ludwig to talk about it, Arthur could prevent it. 'So, you don't work out anymore? Why not?'

Ludwig sighed again, 'because, no matter how much I trained, how much I fought, I couldn't save him.' His voice caught a little but his expression was unchanged.

Arthur made small notes in his little notebook. 'Your brother right? What happened?' He tried to sound casual, but it really wasn't his thing, Arthur was afraid he was just sounding nosey.

'Why do you act so interested in this? You know what happened.' He stopped in front of the pub and rested his arms tiredly on the steering wheel.

'Yea well, I kinda...' Come on Arthur, think of a good lie already, he thought, Ludwig was talking don't lose him now. 'I did know, yes, but I hit my head on something... yea, and I don't remember a lot. Just remind me what happened.'

Ludwig got out of the truck and started to walk towards the front door. Arthur followed, not sure what sort of answer that was, and kicking himself for the lame excuse. Ludwig didn't say another word until he had his first beer. Arthur got bits and pieces of information out of him, but the more questions Arthur asked, the more uncomfortable Ludwig looked.

He finally stood up and grabbed his jacket. 'You want to know what happened? I was fighting alongside my brother, Gilbert. The battle was getting pretty bad and he was so worn down. I knew I needed to get him out of there, but I didn't get to him soon enough and when I finally did, I wasn't strong enough to protect him.' He drank half his beer in one gulp and just stared at the glass. The look in Ludwig's eyes was murderous.

'And you know what,' he rubbed at his eyes, 'I'm glad I stopped fighting, stopped caring. Because no one relies on me anymore. Gil always taught me to be strong, but look where it got him? Look where it got me. Lost my grandpa, my brother, I almost lost Feliciano too and Kiku. If I can't protect the ones I love, why bother trying.' He turned and walked out of the pub, forgetting Arthur rode with him.


	5. Feliciano

**Hey, so I will be incredibly busy between now and September, but I will keep my laptop with me and work whenever I can, hopefully I will be able to update fairly regulary. I have parts the the other chapters written, but I feel like I am getting a bit reptitive, and I havn't even started on China's chapter. If you guys have any suggestions on what could have happened to him, I would love to hear them. Thanks :)**

Arthur barely slept that night. He was still in his house, in his bed, but everything felt wrong and he couldn't sleep. It didn't help that the meeting was in the morning and he had set his alarm an hour early to make sure he wasn't late this time.

When Arthur got up he didn't bother with breakfast. He had opened one of the bags in the fridge, the contents were quite bloody. He wasn't about to eat anything in the fridge or the rest of the kitchen. After the meeting he would have to get groceries, and he would need to get pasta too.

Arthur figured he would start with the Axis countries, since he didn't know them as well, then work on the Allies. After todays meeting he was going to invite Feliciano over for dinner. But Arthur didn't know the first thing about pasta. He was going to ask Feliciano's brother for advice, but he had only met Lovino once and the Italian threw a baguette at Arthurs head. He didn't want too meet Lovino now, fearing it might be something sharper thrown at him.

Still not able to find his car, Arthur walked to the meeting again. As he walked in an sat down, Alfred was watching him like a hawk. Ludwig joined them a few minutes late, he looked awful and Arthur felt really bad knowing that was his fault. Before Alfred continued talking, Ludwig shot Arthur a look. Arthur wasn't sure if it was anger or sorrow, but it made his stomach twist in a knot.

Arthur tried paying attention to the meeting this time, taking small notes. Matthew was sitting at the opposite end of the table, next to Alfred. Arthur tried to get his attention, but Matthew seemed to be purposely avoiding his eyes.

After the meeting Arthur ran to catch up with Feliciano. The small Italian seemed eager to leave and was inching his way to the door while Arthur was talking to him.

'Hey, uh, Feli. So I was just wondering if you would want to come over for dinner? I am making pasta, I know you like that.'

Feliciano's eyes lit up just a little at the mention of pasta but he seemed to be searching for an excuse. 'Why? I mean, you've never had me over before.' He stopped inching to the door now.

'Well, that's why. I just thought it might be nice to get to know each other a little better. Come on, please?' Feliciano glanced at the door, then down at the small switch blade in his hand. 'Okay, when do you want me over?' He was almost smiling. Feliciano's smile was something Arthur knew very well, but hadn't seen at all in this time period.

'Is five o' clock alright?' Feliciano nodded and put the knife in his back pocket.

Arthur had never really cooked pasta before, and had a tendency to burn most things he cooked. He had already gone through four boxes of different types of pasta by 4:30. Muttering about broken equipment, he put a dish of lasagne in the oven, reading through the recipe for the sixth time. Spending most of the afternoon cleaning his house and thoroughly sanitizing the kitchen, Arthur hadn't left himself much time for baking.

Taking just a minutes break, he sat down at the kitchen table and flipped through an old worn cookbook for something sweet. Most recipes in the book had been attempted by him before, he thought they had tasted fine, but nobody else did. Finally he settled on one recipe that had been mostly a success. Forcing himself to stand up again, he dug through the kitchen for clean bowles and measuring cups.

The oven dinged at the same time Feliciano knocked at the door. 'Just a second!' Arthur called from the kitchen, setting the hot pan on the counter.

Feliciano looked rather uncomfortable standing at the front door. He had decided four times that he wasn't going to show up, but he did anyways. Arthur smiled politely as he opened the door and invited Feliciano in, but honestly, he was terrified of the little Italian.

He was still wearing the oven mitts when he answered the door. There was a lingering smell of smoke in the house as he walked in.

'Dinner will be ready in just a minute. Please make yourself at home.' Feliciano sat on the couch but stood almost immediately, feeling rather uncomfortable in this house he had never been in.

Arthur came into the living room with a bottle of red wine. 'Dinner is ready. Would you like a glass?' Feliciano nodded and followed Arthur to the dining area. Arthur waited until they had both started eating before trying to start a conversation.

'So, Feli, you seem pretty good with those knives of yours, eh? Why do you carry them with you so much?'

Feliciano sipped his wine before answering. 'The world is a dangerous place. One must learn to protect oneself. May I have another glass?'

'Of course.' Arthur shakily poured more wine for them both. 'So, you never were worried about protecting yourself before. What changed.'

There was a long pause before Feliciano answered again, like he was carefully contemplating his words. 'I guess I didn't have to before. I relied on others to do that, but they abandoned me.' He scooped another helping of lasagne. 'This is pretty good, Arthur. I haven't had lasagne in quite a while.'

Arthur smiled, genuinely for the first time in a while. 'Really? You like my cooking?'

'Of course.'

A timer went off in the kitchen and Arthur excused himself from the table. He took a dish of bread pudding out of the oven and brought it to the table, hoping it had turned out. 'Okay, Feli, I have a random question for you. What would be the reason for me to have bags of bloody... substances... in the fridge?' It had been bothering Arthur all day.

Feliciano laughed. 'For your cupcakes of course! You know, you haven't brought any to a meeting in a while, what's up with that?'

Arthur felt sick. 'Cupcakes? I.. I guesses I've just been busy.' He suddenly didn't feel like eating, especially anything he cooked, but he scooped out a small portion of pudding anyways.

feliciano began to talk about different types of pastas and how to serve them. Arthur tried to listen but had a hard time focusing. Not having slept much in the last two nights he began to nod off.

Eventually Feliciano noticed. He stood and took his dishes to the kitchen. 'Well, I had better be going. Thank you for dinner Arthur, it was quite delicious.'

Arthur yawned as he walked Feliciano to the front door. 'Good night, and, uh, thanks for coming. Bye.' After Feliciano left, Arthur began to clean up the rest of the dishes. He didn't get very far though, falling asleep at the kitchen table.


	6. Kiku

**A/N So, this chapter is a bit shorter, I'd ike to say there is a reason for that but, honestly, half the chapter got deleated and I couldn't remember enough ot completly rewrite it. Anyways, I am still looking for ideas for my China chapter. But, thank youu all for reading. :)**

Arthur woke to a sharp pain in his neck. He had fallen asleep sitting with his head on the table. Standing up and rubbing his neck he finished cleaning the dishes from the previous night.

After the kitchen was clean he took a shower. Tucking a towel around his waist, Arthur dug through his dresser for a clean pair of clothes. But he didn't recognise any of the clothing folded neatly in the drawers. It was mostly pastel coloured shirts and sweater vests. He settled on a light blue shirt and through his old clothes in the wash.

Not having any meeting or plans, he grabbed his jacket and decided to take a short walk. He grabbed his notebook planning to go over his notes so far.

About twenty minutes later he found himself at the edge of a small pond. The gentle splash of the water was relaxing and Arthur decided to stop for a few minutes. He had just sat down when he noticed Kiku sitting on the other side of the pond.

He stood back up and began to walk towards Kiku. Arthur stopped a few feet away noticing that Kiku's eyes were closed, and not wanting to startle him. Kiku still had that sword on his hip.

'Hey, Kiku. Um, Mr. Honda.' He called. Kiku sighed and opened his eyes. 'Uh, mind if I join you? For a few minutes?' Kiku muttered something that Arthur was going to take for a yes. He sat down beside Kiku, trying to come up with a way to start a conversation.

'So, Kiku, thank you for delivering that letter.' Kiku nodded. 'I was actually hoping to find you, I wanted to talk.'

Kiku raised an eyebrow and scooted an inch away from Arthur. 'No, it's just... what's new?' He tried smiling at Kiku, but it only made him scoot over further. 'Like, what have you been up to... in the last ten years?' Kiku's expression showed that he wasn't sure if Arthur was being serious.

He didn't say anything for a while. Finally he kicked a rock and stood up. 'I have been very busy at my own home. I don't see much of a reason to leave. I should go back there now.' He began to walk away.

Arthur jumped up, slightly panicked. If Kiku left now, He might not get a chance to talk to him. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he panicked more. 'I was talking to Ludwig the other day. he said something about you getting hurt. What was that about?'

Kiku stopped, his body ridged. 'He should not have told you about that.'

Arthur felt himself relax a bit. 'Yea, I know. But now that he told me, I'm curious, he didn't elaborate on the story to much, would you please? I won't tell anybody, promise.'

Kiku began to walk again, but he slightly waved his hand, telling Arthur to follow. They walked in silence until they were a good thirty feet from the pond. 'There is not much to tell, I suppose. And it wasn't Ludwig's fault. He was heart broken over his brother. Feliciano got himself into some trouble, I should have left him, it wasn't my job to protect the kid. Anyway, we were ambushed, barely made it out alive.'' He wouldn't meet Arthur's eyes as he spoke.

'So, uh, is that why you are so reserved? Because it's too hard to have people depend on you? You're afraid to fail them?' He thought back to Ludwig.

Kiku laughed. Something Arthur had never even heard in his time. 'No, you really have been talking to Ludwig haven't you? He can be such a wuss sometimes. No, I had never been left alone with Feliciano for that long before. He is so annoying. I decided then and there that I hated people.' Arthur stopped, most countries seemed to have traumatic reasons, Kiku just didn't like babysitting.

'So, it's just better to be lonely?' Kiku didn't answer, and Arthur realised they had stopped in front of a house. Kiku walked up the small driveway and began unlocking the front door. Arthur continued walking, hoping he could figure out how to get home from here.

Kiku called out from behind him, 'would you like to come in, Mr. Kirkland? I can make tea. Perhaps we could continue talking, if you want to.' Arthur nodded and followed him into his house.

Kiku's house what not completely what Arthur had expected. Yes, it was dark and peaceful and had a very Japanese feel to it, but the walls were also lined with photos. There were many of Kiku and the Axis countries, roasting smores on a beach, training, touring the cities in Italy. But there were also many of him and the Allies too, during meeting, Kiku and Alfred watching movies together, even pictures from that horrible picnic Francis organised.

In all of the pictures, Kiku was off to the side of the group a little. He didn't like to be lonely. He just didn't like to be the centre of attention. Arthur had been staring at the photos so long, Kiku had finished making the tea. They sat down to drink it and Arthur tried to continue the conversation from earlier. But Kiku really didn't want to talk about himself, and Arthur was afraid to hear anything about himself, so they ended up sitting in silence. Arthur dug around for an excuse to leave. Taking three hours to get home and becoming quite lost he got home very late.


	7. Yao

**A/N So, this chapter is a bit shorter, I'd ike to say there is a reason for that but, honestly, half the chapter got deleated and I couldn't remember enough ot completly rewrite it. Anyways, I am still looking for ideas for my China chapter. But, thank youu all for reading. :)**

Arthur woke to a sharp pain in his neck. He had fallen asleep sitting with his head on the table. Standing up and rubbing his neck he finished cleaning the dishes from the previous night.

After the kitchen was clean he took a shower. Tucking a towel around his waist, Arthur dug through his dresser for a clean pair of clothes. But he didn't recognise any of the clothing folded neatly in the drawers. It was mostly pastel coloured shirts and sweater vests. He settled on a light blue shirt and through his old clothes in the wash.

Not having any meeting or plans, he grabbed his jacket and decided to take a short walk. He grabbed his notebook planning to go over his notes so far.

About twenty minutes later he found himself at the edge of a small pond. The gentle splash of the water was relaxing and Arthur decided to stop for a few minutes. He had just sat down when he noticed Kiku sitting on the other side of the pond.

He stood back up and began to walk towards Kiku. Arthur stopped a few feet away noticing that Kiku's eyes were closed, and not wanting to startle him. Kiku still had that sword on his hip.

'Hey, Kiku. Um, Mr. Honda.' He called. Kiku sighed and opened his eyes. 'Uh, mind if I join you? For a few minutes?' Kiku muttered something that Arthur was going to take for a yes. He sat down beside Kiku, trying to come up with a way to start a conversation.

'So, Kiku, thank you for delivering that letter.' Kiku nodded. 'I was actually hoping to find you, I wanted to talk.'

Kiku raised an eyebrow and scooted an inch away from Arthur. 'No, it's just... what's new?' He tried smiling at Kiku, but it only made him scoot over further. 'Like, what have you been up to... in the last ten years?' Kiku's expression showed that he wasn't sure if Arthur was being serious.

He didn't say anything for a while. Finally he kicked a rock and stood up. 'I have been very busy at my own home. I don't see much of a reason to leave. I should go back there now.' He began to walk away.

Arthur jumped up, slightly panicked. If Kiku left now, He might not get a chance to talk to him. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he panicked more. 'I was talking to Ludwig the other day. he said something about you getting hurt. What was that about?'

Kiku stopped, his body ridged. 'He should not have told you about that.'

Arthur felt himself relax a bit. 'Yea, I know. But now that he told me, I'm curious, he didn't elaborate on the story to much, would you please? I won't tell anybody, promise.'

Kiku began to walk again, but he slightly waved his hand, telling Arthur to follow. They walked in silence until they were a good thirty feet from the pond. 'There is not much to tell, I suppose. And it wasn't Ludwig's fault. He was heart broken over his brother. Feliciano got himself into some trouble, I should have left him, it wasn't my job to protect the kid. Anyway, we were ambushed, barely made it out alive.'' He wouldn't meet Arthur's eyes as he spoke.

'So, uh, is that why you are so reserved? Because it's too hard to have people depend on you? You're afraid to fail them?' He thought back to Ludwig.

Kiku laughed. Something Arthur had never even heard in his time. 'No, you really have been talking to Ludwig haven't you? He can be such a wuss sometimes. No, I had never been left alone with Feliciano for that long before. He is so annoying. I decided then and there that I hated people.' Arthur stopped, most countries seemed to have traumatic reasons, Kiku just didn't like babysitting.

'So, it's just better to be lonely?' Kiku didn't answer, and Arthur realised they had stopped in front of a house. Kiku walked up the small driveway and began unlocking the front door. Arthur continued walking, hoping he could figure out how to get home from here.

Kiku called out from behind him, 'would you like to come in, Mr. Kirkland? I can make tea. Perhaps we could continue talking, if you want to.' Arthur nodded and followed him into his house.

Kiku's house what not completely what Arthur had expected. Yes, it was dark and peaceful and had a very Japanese feel to it, but the walls were also lined with photos. There were many of Kiku and the Axis countries, roasting smores on a beach, training, touring the cities in Italy. But there were also many of him and the Allies too, during meeting, Kiku and Alfred watching movies together, even pictures from that horrible picnic Francis organised.

In all of the pictures, Kiku was off to the side of the group a little. He didn't like to be lonely. He just didn't like to be the centre of attention. Arthur had been staring at the photos so long, Kiku had finished making the tea. They sat down to drink it and Arthur tried to continue the conversation from earlier. But Kiku really didn't want to talk about himself, and Arthur was afraid to hear anything about himself, so they ended up sitting in silence. Arthur dug around for an excuse to leave. Taking three hours to get home and becoming quite lost he got home very late.


End file.
